


In-Laws

by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)



Series: Holly's Round Six Trope Bingo Card [5]
Category: Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Adventure tri.
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-18 06:30:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7303255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiasobi_writes/pseuds/hollyandvice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Even if we could never actually be together like that, we could be something almost as good."</p>
<p>Takeru tilts his head to the side. "And that is?"</p>
<p>Hikari's lips turn up into a wicked grin. "In-laws."</p>
<p>What started out as a joke between longtime friends becomes a mission almost as important as saving the Digital World. Not epilogue compliant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In-Laws

"She's a good match for you."

Takeru blinks up at Hikari, filtering through the last fifteen minutes of their conversation to try to make sense of the comment. "Mariko?"

Hikari grins. "Yeah. I think she'll be good for you. Settle you down a little bit."

Takeru laughs outright. "Oh, I need settling down, do I?"

Hikari's grin just widens.

Takeru leans his head on his hand, his smile softening. "I'm glad we never dated."

Hikari's smile softens too. "Sometimes I think it would've been nice, but…"

Takeru nods. "We're just not compatible like that."

"You know, I had the biggest crush on you in middle school."

"I knew. And I kind of wished you hadn't gotten over it when we were in high school."

Hikari nods. "I knew that too. But I guess it was a good thing we never liked each other at the same time. It would've been nice, but…." She shrugs. "I don't know if our friendship would have survived."

"It would have," Takeru insists, "it just… wouldn't have been the same."

Hikari hums, leaning her cheek in her palm and staring out the window. Takeru lets her sit in silence for a while, sipping at his drink. When she speaks, he flicks his eyes back to her. "Although…" She has that same scheming look in her eyes that she gets when she's bored, one that Takeru has learned to attribute to either hours of amusement or the worst kind of trouble. Sometimes both. He sits up a little straighter, ready to either talk her down or convince her to go on. She takes note of his attentiveness and leans in a little closer. "Even if we could never actually be together like that, we could be something almost as good."

Takeru tilts his head to the side. "And that is?"

Hikari's lips turn up into a wicked grin. "In-laws."

Takeru frowns, trying to make sense of what she's saying. The answer comes to him quicker than he would have liked. "Our brothers?" Hikari's smirk widens. Takeru's mouth opens to protest, but he stops, a thousand tiny details lining up in his memory. He closes his mouth, sitting back as he starts to look at everything he's noticed about Taichi and his brother's relationship since they were kids. "Huh."

Hikari nods. "It makes almost too much sense, doesn't it?"

Takeru nods, a little stunned. "Yeah. Yeah it does." He grins, looking back up at Hikari. "So, what's the play?"

\----

It becomes almost a game, Takeru giving Hikari tickets to Yamato's gigs for Hikari to leave in Taichi's jacket pocket when they grab breakfast together, Hikari texting Takeru the times for Taichi's pick-up soccer games so that he can drag Yamato to them after their lunch dates because "We're already in the area, 'nii-san, why not just catch a few minutes of the match?"

Yamato and Taichi seem bizarrely reticent at first, but after about a month of the low-key harassment, they start to actually become a little more receptive. In the end, after a solid eight months of planning, Yamato texts Takeru asking if he'd mind bringing Hikari to their lunch date the next week. Excited and not a little pleased that their plan is evidently working, Takeru texts Hikari the time and location immediately, and gets an affirmative response back almost right away.

They're not at all surprised to see both of their brothers sitting at the table waiting for them when they show up for lunch, though Takeru's a little surprised that they're being brazen enough to sit on the same side of the table. Still, he and Hikari cross the room and join their brothers at the table, and all four of them peruse the menus in relative silence, like they're all waiting for the other shoe to drop.

After the waitress takes their menus, it's Yamato that leans forward, eyes bright and sharp on Takeru and Hikari. "We know what game you two are playing."

Takeru chokes on his tea, and Hikari pats him on the back; he can almost see the wry look on her face as she says "Nice, genius. Way to play innocent."

"You've always been better at that than I have," Takeru points out, and she doesn't argue.

Yamato waits patiently for their arguing to subside before starting again. "We know what game you two are playing. We know you're trying to set the two of us up."

Takeru feels his face turn red as he slumps a little in his seat, but Hikari sits tall and strong beside him. "Is there a problem with that?"

"Only that you tried to do it without talking to us first."

That seems to blindside Hikari, who gapes at their brothers, face going slack with disbelief. "Excuse me?"

Yamato smirks, leaning back and placing an arm casually over the back of a blushing Taichi's chair. When Takeru's own jaw drops, Yamato quirks an eyebrow. "You really could've just asked."

"How long?" Takeru blurts out, and Yamato just laughs while Taichi goes even redder.

"About two years, I guess? We wanted to make sure we wouldn't crash and burn too hard before we told anyone."

"Still!" Takeru says, knowing he sounds a little hurt. "You could have told us!"

Taichi seems to get over his embarrassment and leans forward in his seat, looking Hikari and Takeru in the eye. "Here's what you two have to understand. The Chosen Children depend on me and Yamato being solid. When we're not solid, the team isn't solid. And the team always comes first for me."

"For both of us," Yamato says, rolling his eyes.

"For both of us," Taichi concedes. "But I was the one that insisted we wait to tell everyone. It just wasn't worth it to risk people feeling like they might have to choose sides if things went wrong."

"And now?" Hikari asks.

Taichi sits back, grinning over at Yamato. "Well. Now there doesn't seem to be much cause for worry, does there?"

Yamato smiles back, his face going soft. "No. No, there doesn't."

Hikari's grin turns positively devilish, and Takeru knows where this is going before she even speaks. "So you're gonna tell everybody now, right?"

Taichi goes bright red again even at Yamato's laughter resonates through the restaurant.

**Author's Note:**

> [Come hang with me on tumblr!](http://hollyandvice.tumblr.com/)


End file.
